


Better Call Dad

by hahahaharlequin



Series: "My dad has a fursuit" [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Batfamily Feels, Batfamily Shenanigans, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, batbros, batfam, batkids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 13:49:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18344939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hahahaharlequin/pseuds/hahahaharlequin
Summary: “So, uh, I’m not actually sure where we are right now.”“You should feel foolish.”“You hear that in the distance? It’s the excuse train coming.”





	Better Call Dad

**Author's Note:**

> I was asked for a batkids + bruce fluff, and I was listening to anime songs, and had just been binging some anime, reading manga, pretty much weeb culture so uhhh, apologies for their fancies, especially Tim's and Jay's which I based off Mikorin from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
> 
> P.S. I wrote this at 2AM so please excuse the errors

The situation was reminiscent of the sweltering summer heat, sweat trickling down their backs, and the dry air blowing every now and then, which brings up more dust than breeze, as it should.

 

Damian’s shirt is sticky against his skin, as he swipes a hand across his forehead. He tugs off the sunglasses Dick had picked out for him earlier to wear. Jason had altogether removed his jacket, seeing as they were nowhere near Harajuku street anymore. Tim, the more rational thinker of the bunch, was pacing to and fro on the train platform, muttering words under his breath as he flipped through his English-to-Japanese dictionary.

Cass was enjoying herself on the Tamagotchi she bought earlier when they were at Akihabara, while Dick was trying to chastise Jason, and holding Damian back by the scruff of his shirt from mobbing an innocent policeman.

 

He was too proud to admit defeat, until he raised both hands up as in the universal sign of giving up.

 _“So, uh, I’m not actually sure where we are right now.”_ He announces, lowering his head, as he presents his head to whomever wished to bonk him on the topside for his foolishness.

 

None of them had the time to learn how to read the characters, since they could learn how to _say_ them instead. No matter how much they’d end up butchering the word. So now, they reap the fruits of their negligence, insisting that they would _stick_ to Bruce like glue, meaning the old man could act as their translator.

And, who would need any other translator other than _money?_

 _Not_ to sound snobbish and haughty, but thinking they wouldn’t need _anything_ if they had credit cards (emphasis on the _s)_ was the dumbest way to die on a foreign country.

 

“I called Bruce already. He said he’s on his way.” Dick tells the group of teens and young adults, who were now slouched on the bench nearest the exit, yet still close enough to the platform.

 

“You should feel foolish,” is all Damian tells him, which was honestly a truth much harsher than pointing out his mistake. It was like he pointed out all of Dick’s wrongdoings his entire life.

 

The boy had probably just fried his brain, and wasn’t as coherent as he was earlier when they were visiting shrines before heading to _Akiba,_ where no one seemed to pay him any mind when he practically _geeked_ over the Batman merch. Well, Tim too, was much too engrossed in the curvaceous figures they’d pass by as they entered the establishment, to make fun of the kid.

Jason practically bounded for the manga section, poring over the collection of colourful art covers, and flipping through some he picked up, before deciding on checking them out. Cass and Dick spent the entire time picking out keychains and trinkets they planned on giving to family and friends as souvenirs and gifts.

Which was somehow comical, yet _expected_ how the boys and Cass find themselves on an unknown train platform, in the middle of nowhere. They had missed their stop, with the boys arguing over something rather petty, that they didn’t even bother listening for the name of the station they were supposed to get off at.

 

“I don’t even know how this is _my_ fault! I was just pointing out that _maybe_ we passed by our hotel two stations ago!” Dick groans in exasperation. The humidity was finally getting to his head, his thick hair suddenly a couple grams heavier.

 

“You’re just making excuses.” “You hear that in the distance? That’s the excuse train coming.” Tim and Jason say in unison, voices trying to raise above the other, as if it would make their point come across easier. It honestly just added to Dick’s migraine.

 

“We should probably just stop fighting, and just sit down calmly, and wait for Bruce to pick us up.” Dick says, sliding down to sit on the floor with his back against the wall. He’s seated beside the bench, exactly beside Cass who was smiling delightedly at her virtual pet.

Damian is peering over her shoulder, probably contemplating buying one for himself, too, before going back home. The older girl was kind enough to let Damian feed the 8-bit pet, and then they were in their own virtual pet bubble, not bothering with their dumb brothers.

Tim was still trying to piece together a cohesive sentence that could get them a taxi to their hotel without breaking the bank. Or at least train tips so they can save on the cash, so as not to trouble Bruce too much. Having to pick them up was embarrassing enough.

 

“We probably look dumb right now, like the Power Rangers breaking up like The Beatles,” Jason drawls from where he’s seated beside Damian, fanning himself with one of the clear files he got for free from the mountain of manga he bought.

 

Dick had insisted on them wearing specific colours that “represented their bat-brand”, to which Jason and Tim immediately tried shutting down, seeing as they both have “Red” in their alter egos’ names. But their pleas fell silent on deaf ears when Cass pulled out a sunny, yellow outfit Dick had helped her piece together before they left Gotham.

Damian was forced into clothes with green accents, Dick wore an outfit of varying shades of blue, and Cass wore her cute outfit, that Bruce was also delighted to see her wear. Jason and Tim played numerous rounds of rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets to _“be the main character”._

In the end, Tim reigns the victor, with Jason left to wear black instead. Which was still in his favor, seeing as most of his wardrobe consisted of the dark colour.

 

Indeed, they must be quite the spectacle right now. Dick could feel stares from the platform across them. _Who wouldn’t?,_ he thought. _Beautiful people dressed as casual as any Power Ranger off-duty would, gracing their mundane, daily lives?_

He chuckles to himself, as he pulls out his phone to check if there had been any new messages from Bruce. The screen lights up, and shows him that he’s missed two calls already, and one unread message, all of which were from Bruce.

 

> **I’m outside the station. Come out. I’ll be waiting.**

 

Was all the message said, but Dick is already scrambling to get up on his feet. The action startles Cass, and Damian, who was leaning his head on her shoulder. Jason looks over to him from his end of the bench. Tim was still immersed in the dictionary, and could have forgotten the situation they were in. There were times he would lose himself in the book he was currently nose-deep into. Even if some other times they were dictionaries.

 

“Bruce’s here, come on!” He tells his siblings. He was wearing a grin that looked like he was relieved of the world he was carrying on his shoulders.

Jason jumps to his feet, and grabs Tim by the shoulders, steering him towards the exit. The wind blew at the right moment, blowing over the pages of the dictionary, snapping Tim out of his trance-like state.

 

“Hey, what gives? Huh?” He says, lost. Well, technically, they _were._

 

Dick corralled Cass and Damian, and they all but run past the gates, ignoring the shouts of caution from surrounding passersby and security guards stationed at the entrance. They all run out the  entrance, and find Bruce standing outside on the busy street, leaning against the side of a sleek, black car they were sure he wasn’t the driver of.

Their old man’s hair was slicked back with sweat, and his face looked older than it did yesterday. His eyes were trained at the other entrance, just down the block from where they had emerged from.

 

Without a word, nor a shred of hesitation, they tackle Bruce, and each Bat-kid is clung onto him like a lifeline. Even _Jason_ found himself wrapping an arm around their dad’s shoulders.

He felt like _home._

 

“Did you kids have fun, at least?” The man asks; he lets out a relieved sigh as he let the guerilla group hug last a couple seconds longer. He knew they must have been so _terrified,_ he thought to himself.

 

“ _Okay,_ this is weird. I’m tapping out,” Jason says, retracting his arm from the hug, and stepping away from the group. But he wasn’t able to even take a full step back, as Cass and Dick pulled him back into the pile.

 

“Can we talk about this whole thing back at the hotel, though? I’m tired and hot, and _parched!”_ Dick says, finally letting go, and the group can disperse from the hug. It _was_ getting all clammy and sweaty.

Damian, though, wouldn’t let go of his father. And he let him hold onto him like a koala would, or a baby panda would to its caretaker. He carries him inside the car, where they were all assaulted by the gust of cool air from the air conditioning unit.

 

“Take a bath, you lot, once we return at the hotel. You’ll catch colds,” Bruce tells his kids, who weren’t even listening to him anymore, as they assaulted the mini vents of the car’s air conditioning system, desperately trying to stave off the summer heat with the cold air, risking catching a cold.

  
“Don’t make me remind you again,” the man says in a warning tone, and Jason scoffs in accordance. _Well,_ Bruce thought, _it’s better than nothing,_ he thinks, as he leans back into the leather seat. The driver had already been instructed to drive them back to the hotel. He could nap on the way there, since he’s sure he’ll be bombarded with stories from various perspectives later.

**Author's Note:**

> Got a prompt you wanna see me write about? or a headcanon you wanna share? Drop 'em in my [ TUMBLR ASK](http://hahahaharlequin.tumblr.com/ask) or [ CC](https://curiouscat.me/hahahaharlequin)


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